FAQs for Parents

Choos­ing career and col­lege options can be life chang­ing! The com­pet­i­tive mar­ket­place for higher edu­ca­tion can pro­duce stress for the entire fam­ily, so get­ting a head start on this process will ben­e­fit you and your child. A Col­lege Path con­sul­ta­tion will pro­vide you with impor­tant infor­ma­tion to let you hit the ground run­ning, and give you answers to ques­tions like these:

How can you help my child?
The learn­ing curve is steep and time may be lim­ited. Dr. Hand-Gonzales will indi­vid­u­ally assist the col­lege bound stu­dent, and his or her fam­ily through the entire col­lege and appli­ca­tion process. She cov­ers every­thing from col­lege selec­tion to essay writ­ing. She helps the stu­dents present their best foot for­ward. Work­ing with a col­lege advis­ing coun­selor can leave you feel­ing less stressed and more in charge of the process. Focus­ing on a student-centered approach,  the high energy, inno­v­a­tive, indi­vid­ual, fam­ily, and online col­lege plan­ning solu­tions she offers through College-Path can reach stu­dents, par­ents and edu­ca­tors across the coun­try. Phone con­fer­enc­ing and Skype ses­sions are avail­able for your convenience.

My child has an excel­lent guid­ance coun­selor, so why does she need to work with some­one other than her guidance/ col­lege coun­selor on the col­lege admis­sions process?
Today’s high school guid­ance coun­selors are over­worked. In addi­tion to han­dling your child’s col­lege process, they are also respon­si­ble for test admin­is­tra­tion, stu­dent dis­ci­pline, fam­ily issues, course selec­tion and more! As a result, it is dif­fi­cult to give your child the time and atten­tion they may need in this process. As a mat­ter of fact, refer­rals have come from col­lege coun­selors in both the pri­vate and pub­lic schools.

When is the right time to work with a pri­vate con­sul­tant?
Under­class­men (sopho­mores, juniors and seniors) are often assisted with the focus on choos­ing courses, build­ing a test strat­egy and dis­cussing extracur­ric­u­lar involve­ment. We also assist those who would like to assess their learn­ing styles, inter­ests, majors, goals and aca­d­e­mic priorities.

Do you work with all types of stu­dents?
Dr. Hand-Gonzales is an expert in help­ing all stu­dents. Stu­dents will achieve the high­est level given his or her qual­i­fi­ca­tions. Work has been done with stu­dents inter­ested in com­mu­nity col­lege, tech­ni­cal school, state uni­ver­si­ties, pri­vate col­leges, and Ivy League schools.

Do you work directly with the appli­ca­tion process?
A review of the appli­ca­tion includ­ing strate­gies, essay idea devel­op­ment, essay cri­tique and review, pro­to­col for rec­om­men­da­tions, resume build­ing, test­ing strate­gies, and mock inter­view process will be addressed.

How can I, as a par­ent, stay involved in the process?
No one knows your child bet­ter than you, so your input through­out the process would be very much appre­ci­ated. Please feel free to call or email at any time. Your child’s busy sched­ule includ­ing home­work assign­ments, extracur­ric­u­lar activ­i­ties, train­ing and prac­tices may leave you spin­ning your wheels—let your fam­ily save time on the admis­sion process by work­ing with your per­sonal col­lege advisor.

What will Col­lege Path do for my child?

• Show your stu­dent how to max­i­mize their credentials
• Encour­age and empower your student
• Pro­vide a strate­gic under­stand­ing of the col­lege admis­sions process
• Pro­mote a col­lab­o­ra­tive process among Col­lege Path, your stu­dent, and yourself
• Help your stu­dent man­age the appli­ca­tion process
• Pro­vide your stu­dent with a com­pet­i­tive edge
• Ask the right ques­tions and lis­ten to you and your student
• Help your fam­ily plan pragmatically
• Pre­serve the parent-child rela­tion­ship dur­ing a crit­i­cal tran­si­tional time
• Help make the col­lege search process less stressful
• Develop a work­ing resume and prac­tice inter­view skills
• Tai­lor our ser­vices to your indi­vid­ual stu­dent and your family
• Retain per­spec­tive
• Give help and guid­ance with­out impos­ing biases
• Assist your stu­dents with learn­ing how to make an impor­tant life decision
• Pro­vide an outsider’s objec­tive view on your family’s col­lege investment
• Help you make informed decisions

What doesn’t Col­lege Path do?

Col­lege Path:

• Will not pro­vide you with “cookie cut­ter” services
• Does not force fam­i­lies to pur­chase unneeded services
• Can’t guar­an­tee admission
• Does not write essays
• Doesn’t “over-package” stu­dents, and
• Is not con­sumed with the rank­ing or pres­tige of col­leges and universities

What does Col­lege Path charge?
Our fees depend upon your needs. From an hourly rate to the unlim­ited pack­age, a vari­ety of ser­vices are offered. If you would like more details, email Dr. Hand-Gonzales at collegebound@college-path.com or send a mes­sage here.